plate joining jig for mitered corner box parts

[Bob Savage]

I need to setup an assembly line to build mitered boxes and am going to use biscuits for aligning the corners to ease glue up. The boxes will be anywhere between 6"x4"x4" (LWH) to 12"x6"x"7" at biggest, so they're fairly small boxes with the height dimension being the area with the miter. I'm using 4/4 material that's 3 sides finished so I'm leaving them at .82" thickness and not planing.

What I'm looking for are ideas on a jig for mounting the plate joiner (I have the Dewault) so that I can quickly and accurately locate the box pieces in the jig and cut the biscuit slots. For the smaller boxes with a 4" height want to put one #10 biscuit in the center and boxes with a height of 6" or more, two evenly spaced biscuits (I'd like an opinion on this though, is that overkill since I'm not concerned about joint strength, but with indexing for glue up?).

I've got some ideas on how to do it, either mounting the joiner on a 45" angle, laying the material flat and having index markings on the jig for locating the part and was also thinking of mounting the joiner flat and then locating the material at a 45 degree angle, but I've got no experience with this and wanted to hear from the seasoned crew at SMC for ideas.

Thanks in advance.

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd bolt the joiner to the bench, so it doesn't move around while you're using it. I'd make a "fence", which would be a block of wood perhaps 2" tall, with a face cut at 45 degrees. I'd fasten the fence to the bench just in front of the joiner, so that the 45 degree face just touches the joiner. That is, the fence holds the workpiece right against the face of the joiner. I'd fasten various stops to the face to position the workpiece laterally. Depending on your stock dimensions, you might want to include a block between the joiner and the bench, to set the height of the slot in the workpiece.

If you're slamming out lots of pieces, it is good to hook a vacuum to the chip exit port of the joiner.

[Mike Henderson]

I cut the biscuit slots on my router table with a jig I made. You can see the jig about mid-way down on this page.

Mike

[Brian Holcombe]

Bob, if it is at all feasible to use a locking miter router bit, do so. It will save you quite a bit of trouble in the assembly stage.

[Jerry Miner]

I cut the biscuit slots on my router table with a jig I made. You can see the jig about mid-way down on this page.

Mike

Mike--

Totally off-topic, but I saw your page and wonder why you have T-tracks in your drill press table but you're clamping the fence with F-clamps--no fence to go with the T-tracks?

[Kevin Groenke]

Have you thought about using the masking tape method for gluing up these boxes?

http://legacy.woodshopdemos.com/decbx-4.htm

I find this to be a much simpler technique than any other: IMO biscuits would actually complicate a glue up of this nature. If more clamping pressure then the tape can provide is required (though it shouldn't be), you can wrap with stretch wrap after rolling up the taped miters.

-kg

[Bob Savage]

Hey guys,

Thanks a bunch for all the input!

Jamie,

My impatience got me into the shop earlier today but I think I ended up with something similar to what you described (see pictures below).

Mike,

that's a nice jig setup you've got there!

Brian,

I was actually going to go the locking miter route (no pun intended) but after looking around on the web it seemed like 1) I'd have to do a miter cut on the box sides anyway before doing the router operation and 2) There seemed to be more negative feedback on using this method than I expected so ended up not even trying it. Is it a quick method?

Kevin,

I gave the tape method a shot with a couple boxes and it did seem to work pretty good but the joints weren't as tight as I'd like them. It's probably due to my technique though because I didn't practice on more than a couple boxes.

Here's what I ended up with:

plate-joiner-jig-1.jpg

plate-joiner-jig-2.jpg

plate-joiner-jig-3.jpg

plate-joiner-jig-4.jpg

[Mike Henderson]

Mike--

Totally off-topic, but I saw your page and wonder why you have T-tracks in your drill press table but you're clamping the fence with F-clamps--no fence to go with the T-tracks?

I built that drill press table a long time ago and put the T-tracks in. But I find it easier to just clamp rather than use the T-tracks. I do (or use to) have a fence that I made when I made the table.

Mike

[Jim Finn]

I make hundreds of boxes a year about the size you are considering. I cut the mitered corners with my miter saw and just glue the mitered corners together using a two inch long piece of masking tape on each corner to hold it in place until I can install 4-5 rubber bands around it to "clamp" in place. No biscuits nor splines. I glue the top and bottom on and then cut off the lid in my band saw. I have made them mostly with cedar but also some maple and oak. I have dropped these boxes on occasion and have never had one break at this corner joint.

[Bob Savage]

I make hundreds of boxes a year about the size you are considering. I cut the mitered corners with my miter saw and just glue the mitered corners together using a two inch long piece of masking tape on each corner to hold it in place until I can install 4-5 rubber bands around it to "clamp" in place. No biscuits nor splines. I glue the top and bottom on and then cut off the lid in my band saw. I have made them mostly with cedar but also some maple and oak. I have dropped these boxes on occasion and have never had one break at this corner joint.

Hi Jim,

I think you responded a while back to another thread I posted on this. I did try the tape method but the very tips of the corners weren't as tight as I'd like them. The gap was small but still about 1/32" to 1/64" on each corner. When I laid the sides out for taping they were right next to each other. Is there something else that I may have been doing wrong?

Thanks

[Mike Henderson]

I used to just glue miter joints together, and never had one break that I know of, but I was always concerned about whether the joints were strong enough. That led me to begin putting in FF biscuits in the miters. I use FF biscuits instead of splines because I didn't like the look of splines - the FF biscuits are invisible.

It takes a couple of extra minutes to put in the biscuits but I always think about how the thing I'm building could last 100+ years and I compare that to how much extra time it would take me to do the work. If I leave a defect in the item, it will be there every day of those 100+ years. Or in the case of glue joints, the item may not last for that 100+ years.

So I put biscuits in miter joints just to be sure.

Mike

[Bob Savage]

I used to just glue miter joints together, and never had one break that I know of, but I was always concerned about whether the joints were strong enough. That led me to begin putting in FF biscuits in the miters. I use FF biscuits instead of splines because I didn't like the look of splines - the FF biscuits are invisible.

It takes a couple of extra minutes to put in the biscuits but I always think about how the thing I'm building could last 100+ years and I compare that to how much extra time it would take me to do the work. If I leave a defect in the item, it will be there every day of those 100+ years. Or in the case of glue joints, the item may not last for that 100+ years.

So I put biscuits in miter joints just to be sure.

Mike

Hi Mike,

These boxes are cremation urns, so I have the same concern about longevity, plus the issue of alignment which the biscuit should help with too. Have you setup a jig for doing these? I already built what I'm planning on using (pics above) but am always interested in the creativity of others.

[Brian Holcombe]

Brian,

I was actually going to go the locking miter route (no pun intended) but after looking around on the web it seemed like 1) I'd have to do a miter cut on the box sides anyway before doing the router operation and 2) There seemed to be more negative feedback on using this method than I expected so ended up not even trying it. Is it a quick method?

Bob,

Actually I start with them cut 90 degrees, and let the bit determine everything about the miter. It's much easier to glue up than a standard miter and helps make a tighter joint. The tough part is the setup, it requires a router table and a bit of patience in the setup.

It makes a stronger joint than a miter. I use them on case good and boxes.

I've done standard miters and also splined miters, both are much more difficult to glue up.

[Bob Savage]

Bob,

Actually I start with them cut 90 degrees, and let the bit determine everything about the miter. It's much easier to glue up than a standard miter and helps make a tighter joint. The tough part is the setup, it requires a router table and a bit of patience in the setup.

It makes a stronger joint than a miter. I use them on case good and boxes.

I've done standard miters and also splined miters, both are much more difficult to glue up.

Hi Brian,

This is very intriguing... I don't think you can post links, but who's bits are you using? It looks like most of the bits I've found is a single bit and you change the board orientation. Do you find that these joints would be good for high volume work or is the process fairly slow, perhaps prone to chipout if you don't use backing boards?

[Brian Holcombe]

I think it's a freud bit, but there are a bunch of very similar ones. It's good for high volume in my opinion. The setup is the longest part, then I go through some efforts to make sure that the boards cant lift off the bit during the cut, since it is cutting a miter and a groove. Nice to use a backer if you can.